Use the First Law of Project Management to build in a margin for errorYou have built a model of your project, either on your PC or on paper, and this model tells you how you believe your project will unfold once it gets on the road. You could imagine, at this point, that you know things like the end date, the number of people required, the budget, and so on. However, you don't. The model you have created is exactly that: a model. It is a prediction of how the future may turn out. Before you start making commitments based on the model you need to ask yourself one vital question. "What will I do if the model is wrong what will I do if it doesn't work out like I thought?" A margin for error can be achieved by looking at the four parameters upon which the First Law of Project Management is based. Just to remind ourselves , these are:
The First Law of Project Management states that there is a function which connects these four variables , and that this function is a constant, i.e. Function (functionality, delivery date, effort, quality) = Constant Thus, if one of these variables changes, the others change so that the overall equation remains the same. We are all familiar with this effect. Shorten the delivery date, for example, and (a) functionality must decrease, (b) effort must increase, or (c) quality must decrease. Steps to take
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